Hope Never Dies in War Poetry
Amy Young
A2 Literature
Mr. Pangier
June 5, 2016
Fear, loss, hope. Connected by one single word. War. Millions of people fight and die, but before they do, they write about their experiences. The style of these poems are different, and each of them, are written by men who have fought in the war and have seen death. They have seen so much more than what most of us will regard in a lifetime. I for one, enjoy reading about things that I’ve never seen, and war poetry is an amazing world to examine and analyze.
The poem I analyzed was After the War written by Wedderburn Cannan. Although the poem was short, it manages to engross the reader and make them feel. It has the loss. It has the hope, and I believe that it represents the emotions that any soldier who left their loved ones at home, and came to fight in a war that they didn’t know if they would live through. It can also show the feelings of the loved one who was left behind, and that is what the poem was written for. The woman who wrote it was a volunteer at an aid station in Oxford. The poem shows her sadness of losing someone dear, but the hope she clings to no matter how long the war goes on. He will return, and it will be just like it used to. That is the message I feel radiate off of this poem.
Structure is valuable, and in this poem, the pattern is rather simple. abbb cbbb. This is what the 4 verses are constructed of. A pattern that is seen often, and is easy to make a poem with myself. At first, I thought about writing about a similar topic, but then I realized there was more to the poem than just the structure. I analyzed further and found this: She represents her memories through colors. She tells us how the hills were blue. She tells us that she sees the changeless sky, but I can’t help but wonder… Does she mean the blue sky that stays blue, or the sky full of planes flying past, which drop bombs? She keeps certain points to herself, reserving information, and leaving the readers to take a guess.
Writing a poem about war was not easy. It is not simple and banal to write poems about war. To soldiers, it’s the matter of life and death, so writing about moments that could be their last is difficult in their own way. Still, it makes them capable of being honest. Even if they are filled with fear, loss, hope. Even if they don’t know what may come. If they are lucky, they’ll make it out alive, if not, they’ll end up a corpse with a journal in their pockets. I don’t have that kind of pressure. I have time to write this poem, but I decided to think of myself as a woman. A woman who has seen death. A woman who has helped save a life. Someone who I am not.
In conclusion, my analysis of this poem was that it was full of hope while still showing us the fear through colors. A blue sky may be blue, but planes still fly overhead. Mountains still set aflame from the falling bombs. Memories still relapse in the mind. No matter how old, nor how young, life is short, and writing through poems is the best way to write when you may be the next live lost in the war.
After the War
By: May Wedderburn Cannan
After the war perhaps I'll sit again
Out on the terrace where I sat with you,
And see the changeless sky and hills beat blue
And live an afternoon of summer through.
I shall remember then, and sad at heart
For the lost day of happiness we knew,
Wish only that some other man were you
And spoke my name as once you used to do.
Dawn Will Rise
By: Amy Young
The wind was always there with me
Whether I looked up or away or through
Life would move on without you, adieu.
Difficult it was when I couldn’t hear you.
I will think of all the time we spent
Oh how I miss it, oh how I miss you
Perhaps I will try to think of something new,
But here dawn will rise with bodies now astrew.
A2 Literature
Mr. Pangier
June 5, 2016
Fear, loss, hope. Connected by one single word. War. Millions of people fight and die, but before they do, they write about their experiences. The style of these poems are different, and each of them, are written by men who have fought in the war and have seen death. They have seen so much more than what most of us will regard in a lifetime. I for one, enjoy reading about things that I’ve never seen, and war poetry is an amazing world to examine and analyze.
The poem I analyzed was After the War written by Wedderburn Cannan. Although the poem was short, it manages to engross the reader and make them feel. It has the loss. It has the hope, and I believe that it represents the emotions that any soldier who left their loved ones at home, and came to fight in a war that they didn’t know if they would live through. It can also show the feelings of the loved one who was left behind, and that is what the poem was written for. The woman who wrote it was a volunteer at an aid station in Oxford. The poem shows her sadness of losing someone dear, but the hope she clings to no matter how long the war goes on. He will return, and it will be just like it used to. That is the message I feel radiate off of this poem.
Structure is valuable, and in this poem, the pattern is rather simple. abbb cbbb. This is what the 4 verses are constructed of. A pattern that is seen often, and is easy to make a poem with myself. At first, I thought about writing about a similar topic, but then I realized there was more to the poem than just the structure. I analyzed further and found this: She represents her memories through colors. She tells us how the hills were blue. She tells us that she sees the changeless sky, but I can’t help but wonder… Does she mean the blue sky that stays blue, or the sky full of planes flying past, which drop bombs? She keeps certain points to herself, reserving information, and leaving the readers to take a guess.
Writing a poem about war was not easy. It is not simple and banal to write poems about war. To soldiers, it’s the matter of life and death, so writing about moments that could be their last is difficult in their own way. Still, it makes them capable of being honest. Even if they are filled with fear, loss, hope. Even if they don’t know what may come. If they are lucky, they’ll make it out alive, if not, they’ll end up a corpse with a journal in their pockets. I don’t have that kind of pressure. I have time to write this poem, but I decided to think of myself as a woman. A woman who has seen death. A woman who has helped save a life. Someone who I am not.
In conclusion, my analysis of this poem was that it was full of hope while still showing us the fear through colors. A blue sky may be blue, but planes still fly overhead. Mountains still set aflame from the falling bombs. Memories still relapse in the mind. No matter how old, nor how young, life is short, and writing through poems is the best way to write when you may be the next live lost in the war.
After the War
By: May Wedderburn Cannan
After the war perhaps I'll sit again
Out on the terrace where I sat with you,
And see the changeless sky and hills beat blue
And live an afternoon of summer through.
I shall remember then, and sad at heart
For the lost day of happiness we knew,
Wish only that some other man were you
And spoke my name as once you used to do.
Dawn Will Rise
By: Amy Young
The wind was always there with me
Whether I looked up or away or through
Life would move on without you, adieu.
Difficult it was when I couldn’t hear you.
I will think of all the time we spent
Oh how I miss it, oh how I miss you
Perhaps I will try to think of something new,
But here dawn will rise with bodies now astrew.